When Silver Was King is about Arizona's Famous 1880s Silver King Mine, located 4 miles north of Superior, Arizona. The Silver King Mine was the catalyst that enabled settlement of the Central Arizona territory during the 1870s. Millions in high-grade silver were taken out of the mine. The mining camps of Silver King and Pinal sprung up overnight to handle the flood of miners and mining camp speculators. The author also includes the mine's impact on the nearby towns of, Superior and the Silver Queen (and later the Magma Mine), Florence, Globe, Miami, and the mining camps of Hastings, Queen, Reymert, Rogers Canyon, Happy Camp, Peachville, Martinez Canyon, Cochran, Mineral Creek and then later the Ray Mine. When Silver Was King is filled with vignettes about everyday life of pioneer men and women living during frontier times in Arizona Territory. Jack San Felice relates tales of Apache warfare, rugged prospectors, miners, rich ore strikes, stagecoach holdups and frontier justice. After all this was the Wild West and an exciting period when people lived during the west's most turbulent time. The author tells the story of Silver King, the mining town and Pinal City, the mill town, located 5 miles southwest of the mine on the banks of Queen Creek, which had year round water in those days. The 1870's and 1880s mining days took place in Arizona Territory when men lived by their wits and sometimes their guns. The book details the mine's history throughout the last 130 years up to the present day's attempt to reopen the historic old mine. The book is 384 pages and contains over 200 images of 1870s-1880s photos of mines, miners, lawmen, citizens, old newspaper articles and advertisements, as well as more recent photos of the Silver King mine and nearby areas.
"Jack San Felice has been tirelessly digging into the story of the Silver King mine and its surrounding area for more than a decade. He's also been teaching the subject at the college level for years and has left no stone unturned in his research to uncover the real story of Arizona's greatest single silver strike. No book shelf on Arizona should be without it."
-- Marshall Trimble, Official Arizona State Historian
